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Real estate fraud scheme cheats homeowners out of rent

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, February 2, 2005.

Real estate broker James Montgomery and his wife formed Sun Village Realty Inc. to rent vacation homes owned by absentee owners. Rental commissions of 25 percent to 30 percent were charged to the owners.

The management contracts with the owners did not prohibit or permit use of the houses by the rental agency employees or guests without notice or payment to the owners.

Purchase Bob Bruss reports online.  more...

High-power tool rids home of dirt, moss

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, February 2, 2005.

Q: You've told us how to maintain our wooden decks, now please help those of us with brick patios. My uncovered brick patio is on the north side of a house built in the early 1930s. Although the slope of the patio is adequate for good drainage, the rain and fog and lack of sunlight mean that the brick is damp and shady much of the winter so that moss grows on many bricks.

Can you suggest a maintenance procedure to kill the moss or at least inhibit its growth?  more...

Real estate newbie seeks fastest way to make a buck

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, February 2, 2005.

DEAR BOB: I have followed your frequent recommendations for prospective real estate investors to take courses at community colleges. You are 100 percent correct. I have learned so much and met dozens of interesting people by taking the real estate principles, investment, finance and law courses. But I dropped out of the appraisal class, as it was deadly boring. My wife and I bought our first investment property, a run-down, two-family duplex, which we are now fixing up on the weekends. However, my employment situation is unstable and I am thinking of getting my sales license.  more...